


Unlikely Friendships

by UnderworldsPain



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: I dont know what this is gonna be, M/M, Multi, i might make it kinda lowkey expensive headphones, idk if i wanna keep their relationship platonic yet, or if I wanna keep jeremy and michaels relationship platonic, whoooo knows
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-12
Updated: 2017-11-01
Packaged: 2018-12-14 14:53:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11785479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnderworldsPain/pseuds/UnderworldsPain
Summary: Rich and Michael realized they had a lot in common and became close friends.





	1. Realizations

The ‘game over’ screen flashed brightly in front of Michael’s eyes as a form of mockery. He squinted at the screen in frustration and let out a huff of air as he set the controller down next to his feet. He leaned back in his beanbag chair, crossed his arms and stared at the screen for a couple of minutes, as though that would help him win the game somehow. He’d been trying this level for at least 2 hours at this point and the most infuriating thing was that he was so close to beating it every time he died! Jeremy was off rehearsing for the next school play with Jake and Christine so he was stuck to try and beat this level without a player 2, which made it all the more difficult.

“You know, you’re gonna burn a hole in that TV if you keep staring it down like that” 

Michaels head whipped toward the overly joyful voice, focusing his piercing gaze one the man sitting on his bed instead of the television. The other lifted his book in front of him in order to block his merciless stare.

“Woah woah woah, don’t burn a hole in me either Michael!” 

Michaels eyes shut for a second as he breathed out a loud groan, a hand reached up to sweep his hair back. The product had all come out at this point with how often he had run his hand through it in frustration.

“I wouldn’t burn a hole in anything if this stupid game would stop making me lose, Rich!”

He gestured over to the bright game over screen, still flashing in front of him. A small chuckle escaped Rich as he set the book down next to him on the bed, marking the page before closing it, and getting up to stand next to his fuming friend.

“Well it’s certainly not the TV’s fault that you keep losing, that would be the game itself. It could also be the fact that you majorly suck at the game and are in denial about this, therefore causing you to blame your shitty gaming skills on this poor innocent, defenseless cartridge. ”

Rich rested his hands on his hips and shook his head in mock disappointment, his tongue clicking against the roof of his mouth. Michael angrily looked up at the other boy and punched him straight in the stomach. It wasn’t a hard punch but it still caused him to double over slightly, mostly just because of reflex. Michael muttered a low ‘dick’ under his breath as Rich frowned and rubbed the spot Michael had just hit, watching as the other picked up his controller again and turned to face his failure once more. 

“Hey wait, isn’t this game multiplayer?”

Michael looked up to Rich again with a raised eyebrow. 

“Yea it is. Uh, why?”

Rich rolled his eyes and walked over to pick up a spare controller that was discarded on the floor and plugged it into the system before falling into the beanbag chair next to Michael. He turned to the other and smirked.

“I can play with you to help you beat the level you idiot. I’ve watched you play this for long enough to know the basic controls for how this works.”

Michael took a minute to process the words before smiling wildly. A determined look crossed over his face as he turned to the screen in front of him and pressed the replay option.

“Rich! You beautiful genius! We’ll totally be able to beat this level together!”

It took them a few tries, a couple of disgruntled groans and fits of rage until their eyes finally met the glorious level complete screen in front of them. They turned slowly to one another, looks of utter disbelief on each considering they had just barely slipped past the end gates with their lives. Slow smiles found their ways onto each boy's face as they dropped their controllers in celebration. 

“Oh my god Michael we did it… we did it!” 

“Holy fuck, WE DID IT!” 

Michael jumped up from his bean bag and pulled Rich up with him, dragging the other along as he jumped happily around his room. A fast-paced chant of ‘we did it’ fell from Michaels mouth as he bounced around, Rich followed his lead and couldn’t help but laugh at the others overjoyed reaction to finally completing the level. Rich watched as one of his hands were dropped from Michaels firm grasp, the other still in a tight hold, as Michael pointed at the screen laughing maniacally. 

“Take that you lil shit! We finally beat your stupid ass level! It’s hard to sabotage two people isn’t it!”

 

“Sabotage? Michael I can’t believe you’re still so deep rooted in this denial of yours that you’re even going as far as to say that this game sabotaged you. The first stage of recovery is acceptance bro.”

Michael froze in place and dropped Rich’s other hand in favor of placing the hand on his chest, over his heart. A betrayed look crossed Michael’s face as he began to put on a show. He sniffled loudly and turned dramatically away from Rich.

“I can’t believe you would say that to me Rich, after all we’ve been through together.” 

He let out a wail and fell backwards onto his bean bag chair, the back of his hand now resting on his forehead.

“You may have helped me stab zombies but in the end you were the one stabbing me in the back”

“Michael, you need to take responsibility for your shitty gameplay” 

He sat up in the bean bag chair, eyebrow furrowed as he glared at Rich who was currently laughing his ass off across from him.

“You’re such a douche bro, I can’t believe use to have a crush on you.”

Rich stopped his laughter, looked up to Michael and began to make the short trek over to the bean bag chair. He dropped to his knees in front of him and grabbed the Michael’s shoulders, staring him directly in the eye. Michael stopped his drama act and tensed in Richs’ tight grip, a confused expression crossing his face at the sudden mood change.

“Uh what are you-” “Mell, you mean to tell me you use to have a crush on me? When was this?”

Taken aback slightly, Michael dumbly nodded his head.

“Yea I use to back in like freshman year or something, but then you became a dick because of the SQUIP and it kinda gradually stopped and never really came back after that.”

Rich shook Michael by his shoulders excitedly a big smile on his face at the coincidence.

“Dude! I had such a major crush on you Sophmore year!”

“What!”

“Bro! We would’ve been the best couple in the whole fucking school if we had the crushes at the same time! We could’ve been the nerd power couple!”

Rich let go of the other boys shoulders and flopped down next to him on the floor. Michael shifted and looked down from his bean bag to Rich.

“I would’ve spoiled the hell out of you Rich, you would’ve been drowning in affection”

A frown crossed Rich's’ face at the mention of lost affection from the other, he turned his head slightly to look at Michael

“What! That sounds incredible, I can’t believe I missed out on that opportunity. Nah dude, now you’ve gotta give me that sweet Michael Mell affection. You can’t dangle something that wonderful in front of my face and then immediately swipe it from my hold.” 

He reached up to place a hand on Michaels shoulder and looked him in the eye, a serious look on his face.

“Mell, I’ll die without it”

Michael snorted at the others antics and leaned down to pat his cheek affectionately.

“Slight problem with that Rich, neither of us have crushes on each other anymore now that we both know what a major nerd the other is. Not to mention you’re dating fuckboi extrodanaire.”

Rich sat up from his position on the floor and turned towards Michaels’ bean bag. He lightly smacked Michael on the arm, causing the other to rub the sore spot.

“Firstly, only i’m alowed to call Jake a fuckboi. Secondly, who says we have to be a couple to show affection like that. I mean, everyone likes feeling loved right? We can just be uh...really close friends?”

Michael let his head rest in his hand as he thought about the idea. I mean yea, he’d seen friendships like that in the past. Really close ones that seemed to blur the line between romantic and platonic relationships. He wouldn’t mind that with Rich if he were being honest with himself, the two had already become exceptionally close since the SQUIP incident. He would even go as far to say Rich and him were closer to each other than they were to almost anyone else in the little ragtag squad of theirs. Michaels head nodded in agreement. 

“Yea, I’m so down with this idea man.”

Rich’s face instantly split into a wide smile as he bounced excitedly from his spot on the carpeted floor. He scooted himself closer to where Michael was seated and placed both of his hands on the others knees when we was close enough.

“This is gonna be great dude! I hope you’re ready for some hardcore affection from yours truly now that we’ve both agreed to this!”

“Oh I’m more than ready, bring your worst schnookums”

Rich bit his lip in an attempt to stifle his laughter at the overly lovey dovey pet name. His eyes widened and he quickly patted Michaels knees as he realized what that meant. Michael made a noise of questioning as the other began to bounce slightly again.

“Oh my god Michael, you’re cool with affectionate pet names!”

Michael shrugged and nodded in response and began to run his hand through Rich’s hair, scratching lightly at his scalp. He smiled softly as Rich closed his eyes in content and leaned into his touch. He could already tell this was going to be a good idea. He liked being able to be close to someone other than Jeremy, the poor kid was getting the brunt of his affection and he was sure that it was getting to be a bit too much for him to handle. Rich was more than a perfect candidate for this considering how comfortable the two already were with one another.

“As long as Jake doesn’t kick my ass for looking like i’m making a move on his boyfriend then i’m fine with mostly anything sunshine.” 

Rich at this point had moved from his spot on the floor into Michael's’ lap and cuddled close to him. Michael hadn’t stopped scratching yet, mostly because it was nice to watch Rich be so relaxed. He was almost limp in Michael’s lap at this point, his eyes closed and his face tucked into his red hoodie. Rich let out a content sigh at the soothing motions.

“Sunshine… I like that one babe. You should use it more often”

“Alright, the literal light of my life, no problemo.”

Rich shook softly with laughter and looked up at Michael. Rich patted his chest affectionately, stopping and running his thumb across the worn down fabric under his hand. 

“Babe, I’m gonna get us matching necklaces.”

“Oh my god Rich, are you serious?”

“Michael Mell, how dare you excuse me of lying about something as serious as matching necklaces!” 

Michael laughed, snorting loudly in the middle and reaching up to cover his mouth at the intruding noise. Rich quickly caught his hand and shook his head lightly. 

“You’re laugh is so fucking great dude, don’t you dare cover it up. I’m allowed to tell you that now that we’re almost boyfriends”

“Why does being almost boyfriends give you that right? Also, we need to come up with a better name for our relationship.”

“Because I said so babe. If you have any better names then i’m open to suggestions Mell.”

“Touche my dear”


	2. Totally Serious Matters

Michael shook his head in disbelief, a small smile gracing his face, as he let himself get dragged through the mall by a very excited Rich. Despite being short, the guy could move pretty fast when he wanted to. Michael watched all the stores pass him as they walked by and he stumbled slightly while he was distracted. Rich pulled him along, not slowing down his pace despite Michael’s incessant pleas. 

“You know, I didn’t think you were actually serious about this pookie.”

Rich let out a snorting laugh at the nickname and took a sharp right turn into the store he was looking for. The Spencer’s gift shop.

“I told you I wasn’t joking about this Mell. These necklaces are serious business and I’m disappointed in you for taking this as some kinda joke.”

The two slowed the fast pace they were taking before to browse the isles of the shop. Michael was happy to notice that Rich still hadn’t released his hand from his hold, even though they had entered the store. He smiled and gave the hand an affectionate squeeze. Rich shifted his gaze from the many necklaces on the wall over to Michael when he felt it, a slow smile spreading across his own face when he met the others loving gaze. The smile didn’t leave either of their faces as they both turned back to the wall of necklaces and silently browsed the large selection. 

“Hey Rich?” 

“Yea babe?” 

“Could we get matching bracelets instead?”

“Yea sure, why?”

Michael shrugged at Rich’s question but realized the other was now leading him over to the bracelets section, seeming to have already accepted his request as he scanned through the selection on the wall. 

“Uh, I just wear bracelets more often y’know? Necklaces aren’t really my style.”

As he said this he shook his unoccupied hand, the plethora of bracelets jangled on his wrist, as if to prove the statement. Rich looked over and nodded his head, making a noise of agreement as he eyed the many bracelets. When he looked back, his gaze focused in on one set of bracelets. Rich started at them for a couple seconds, contemplating the pros and cons of the choice, before reaching out and plucking them off the hook. 

“What do you think about these sweetheart?”

Michael looked away from the array of bracelets before him that he was only half paying attention to and was glad to spot that Rich was holding out a pair of matching bracelets. As silly as it seemed, the large selection of bracelets seemed to overwhelm him. There were just so many options to consider that his brain sorta zoned out and his vision blurred as he spaced out. He felt almost guilty for not warning the other that he would be little to no help for this. Michael leaned in closer to get a better view of the bracelets and reached out a hand to maneuver the small metal plate to where he could read the engraved text. 

He couldn’t help the grin that stretched on his face as he read the cheesy text. Rich held out the two bracelets; one had its navy blue string woven in a gorgeous design that seemed identical to the other with silver string. The blue bracelet read ‘the moon’, it was engraved on a small metal plate and a small full moon was engraved next to the words. The silver one had the words had ‘the stars’ engraved on the plate with a small star next to the words instead.

“Honeypot, these are fucking adorable! We have to get them.” 

Rich couldn’t help but chuckle at the pet name, he wasn’t sure there’d ever come a time when the dumb and over the top names wouldn’t make him smile and brew that familiar warm feeling in his chest. He hoped that the time never would come.

“Well then what’re we waiting for Micha? Let get up there to pay!”

“Wait hold up Richie-bear. Can you browse around for awhile or something?”

Michael let go of his hand at this point and was looking off somewhere. Rich stood confused for a second before turning to follow his gaze. All he could see was a weird dude standing in a doorway towards the back of the store. He couldn’t help but feel unsettled as he took note of how shady this person seemed and turned back to face Michael. Rich grabbed his hand, wanting to keep him there with him and to keep him from going to deal with whoever that person was.

“Michael, what the fuck?” 

Michael looked down to Rich, where he took note of the concerned look that spread across his face. 

“…What?”

“Michael are you doing a …” He pulled Michael down towards his face and lowered his voice to a whisper “… a drug deal here?” 

Michael couldn’t help but shoot up from the crouched position Rich had put him in and let out a loud, boisterous laugh. He promptly covered his mouth with his hand when he took note of the customers that had turned to face him curiously after the outburst. The giggles were stifled but some still escaped in his speech as he looked at Rich, his wide smile making the corners of his eyes crinkle.

“Oh my god baby boy, that guys my hook-up for 90’s soft drinks not ganja.” 

Rich couldn’t help the light flush of embarrassment that spread across his face at the revelation.

“Oh… I knew that”

Micheal reached down to pat the hand that was still being held by Rich, signaling it was time for the other to release him from his grasp. 

“ Of course you did Richie.”

“Alright alright, you go get your expired flavored water and I’ll look around the store some more”

Michael’s smile didn’t leave his face as he let his hand drop out of Richs’ and moved down to place a kiss to his cheek before walking off in the direction of the shady figured he spotted in the back earlier. Rich watched as Michael left and placed a hand to his cheek, where a kiss from Michael was placed just seconds ago. A dumb grin spread across his face, he couldn’t help it. The thought of Michael simply brought him joy, he felt at home with the boy.

He let his stare linger on the doorway that Michael had disappeared behind for a couple of seconds before turning to look at the rest of the bracelets on the wall to kill some time. Rich couldn’t help but wonder why the whole deal was so shady looking. I mean, it’s not like Michael was doing an illegal act by buying flat expired soda at the back of a Spencers… was he? He couldn’t have been breaking the law right now, and if he was Rich couldn’t help but think it was a dumb law.

His eyes couldn’t help but wander off to the side where a small collection of fuzzy stuffed animals rested. There was something in the pile that caught his eye and no matter what he tried, he couldn’t help but feel drawn to it. Every time he looked at it he couldn’t help but feel sad at the thought of walking out of the store without it under his arm. Moving over to the stand, he carefully drew out two of the animals that sat next to each other. A small bunny rabbit that had rips along some of it’s seams and a dark red dragon that had a loose eye button. 

Rich always had an issue with getting attached to inanimate objects since he was a child. He had the tendency to spot toys or stuffies or anything that had something wrong with them and immediately get attached to them. He knew somewhere in the back of his mind that if he left without this in his bag it probably wouldn’t affect his life in any way shape or form. However, the child in him couldn’t help but feel like he needed to give them a good home. He knew that if he didn’t pick them off the shelf no one else would. Maybe he was just pushing some of his fears and insecurities on to these things but if there was even a .001% chance that these things were alive and could feel then there was no way he was going to let them sit and collect dust here as they watched kids pick out the one’s without scars.

Okay he was definitely acting dumb but regardless; he still plucked the two of them off the shelf and made his way over to the cashier. Dropping the contents on to the counter he began to pull out his wallet for a twenty dollar bill before the cashier’s voice interrupted him. 

“Excuse me sir but, there’s non damaged merchandise on the same shelf you picked these out on if you want to go back and get some replacements.” 

Rich took note of her eyeing the stuffed animals and placed the twenty on the counter a little harder than he should have, causing the poor lady behind the counter to flinch at the noise. Automatically he recoiled and attempted softened the defensive look he assumed already overtook his face. 

“Sorry for the loud noise but, no it’s fine thank you. I want these.” 

“Alright sir, my apologies”

Rich let out a sigh, instant regret for the way he acted hit him like a brick and he placed a couple dollars in the tip jar as she handed him his bag with the bracelets and stuffies as an apology for his behavior. He tried to shoot an apologetic smile her way as he walked off to the front of the store.

“Have a nice day, miss” 

He heard the well wishes returned to him as he walked towards the exit of the shop. Opening the bag to spy inside and check on his little buddies as he stood right outside the entrance to the side store in the mall as he waited for Michael to come out with the soda in tow. There was no way he was gonna hang around inside after the way he acted to that poor girl. Not much longer had passed before Michael had come out with a plastic bag that held what looked to be two sets of six-pack sodas. 

“Damn, they gave you a big bag for just some bracelets.”

Rich looked up at Michael and smiled as he saw him eyeing the bag that obviously contained more than a set of bracelets. 

“That’s because I picked up a surprise while I was waiting for you to get your drinks! What’d you score while you were back there anyway?”

Michael seemed to perk up at the mention of his new stash of soda and pulled one of the six-packs out of the bag to proudly show it off.

“Check it out, love muffin! I haven’t tried these yet and I’m super stoked about it!”

Rich examined the faded pink of the can; a disgusted look began to spread across his face as he read the yellow text that was stretched across. 

“Hubba Bubba soda?” He let out a fake gagging noise to accompany his disgusted tone. “Micha what the hell is this bullshit? You know, sometimes things that are discontinued should stay discontinued. There’s a reason they stopped the production of these and I doubt it was because these were just too tasty for the world to handle.” 

An offended and over dramatic gasp escaped Michael as he slowly lowered the soda back into the bag and placed it on top of the other. Looking down into the bag he whispered to the sodas playfully. 

“Don’t listen to the bad man, I’m sure you’re tasty as all hell” 

Rich rolled his eyes and reached into the bag he was holding to fish out the friendship bracelets they had picked out earlier. Harshly he tore off the flimsy cardboard that kept them connected to each other and chucked one of them at Michael. Rich placed the silver one on his wrist and watched as Michael chuckled and reached down to pick up the fallen bracelet. 

“What a way to honor our friendship, throwing the signifier of it at me like a bullet. Im really feeling the love here baby cakes.”

“You’d better feel the love fucker”

Despite his words, his voice held a playful tone. Michael fumbled with the bracelet for a second before getting it safely secured on his wrist. He smiled as he looked at it, then walked the short distance to Rich and connected their hands. They headed off in the direction of the food court to pick up some lunch and a couple milkshakes. 

“So what else did you pick up while you were waiting Rich?”

Michael attempted to pear over the other’s shoulder and sneak a peak, but Rich bumped their shoulders together lightly and smiled up to him. 

“Well if I told you then it wouldn’t be a surprise anymore, now would it?” 

“Damn, you’ve got me there”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this took me so long to upload, I swear it wont take this long for the next update. :")

**Author's Note:**

> Uhhh can I get good wholesome relationships? (dont worry,, boyf riends and Richjake will be here soon,, this story is mostly focusing on Rich and Michaels friendship tho)


End file.
